QUEEN'S ROAD: Top stars like Shabbir Dhankot, Akaash Ashok Kumar and Shaikh Abdul Hameed among men and Judy Alban and Pooja Hegde among women will be in action in the Karnataka State Tenpin Bowling Association’s premier event, the 1st Wissen Bangalore Open from July 16 to 25 at the Blu O.
“The event is being organised on the lines of international open events like the Malaysian Open, Singapore Open, Hong Kong Open etc. The idea behind this is to give exposure to all Indian bowlers, who had not taken part in any international open events in the past in terms of format and technical conditions,” said R Kannan, secretary of KSTBA.
“The total prize money on offer is `7 lakh with our title sponsor being Wissen Infotech Pvt. Ltd and co-sponsors being Accident Relief Care as a total number of 175 participants are likely to figure in the event,” Kannan added. Shabbir Dhankot of Tamil Nadu, the silver medallist in the Asian Bowling Championship 2015 and a member ot the bronze medal winning mixed team of four at the Commonwealth Championship 2011 as also the National champion in 2010 and 2011 heads the men’s field with Shaikh Abdul Hameed (Delhi), winner of the Asian Bowling Tour - Bangkok 2014 and also the winner of two gold medals and one silver medal at the Commonwealth Championship 2002, Akaash Ashok Kumar (Karnataka), who was part of the bronze medal winning mixed team of four the Commonwealth Championship 2011, Dhruv Sarda (Delhi), the National champion in 2012 and 2013 being his main challengers.
Triple national title holder Harshavardhan Sarda (Delhi), two-time winner Vijay Punjabi (Karnataka), national team member Parvez Ahmed (Karnataka) and national elite squad member Varun Nandu Ganapathy (Karnataka) are also in the fray.
Former India, international and reigning state champion Judy Alban (Karnataka) and 2013 national 2nd runner-up Pooja Hegde (Karnataka) are the main aspirants among women.
The event is classified into two divisions, the open event, where men and women with an average of 175 and above are eligible, with the women getting a handicap of seven pins per game; and the graded event in which all bowlers with average below 175 are eligible.
“The qualifying rounds will be held from July 16 to 19 for Karnataka bowlers and from July 20 to 23 for out-station bowlers. Bowlers’ best two blocks of three games each will be considered for making it to the Master’s round,” Kannan added.
“In the open event, 16 bowlers who qualify will play 16 games over two days in the Master’s round and the top four at the end will play the Step Ladder Round to decide the winners. In the graded event, in the men’s category, 24 bowlers who qualify for the Master’s round will play 10 games in one go to decide the winners. In the women’s category, six bowlers who qualify for Master’s round will play eight games in one go to decide the winners,” Kannan said.